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October 30, 2025
I really can't say enough praise for this beautiful book. Each poem was translated into prose in a lively and vivid style. The dialogue is crisp and natural, and the action is non-stop. But Chretien's intentions go even more profound than merely telling cracking yarns. Each is a sensitive and intelligent exploration of human nature.
Marital love is an essential theme in Chretien. In Erec and Enide, the hero neglects his knightly reputation to devote himself to his new bride, and in Yvain, the hero does the opposite and neglects his bride for valor. Both must embark on a series of adventures culminating in seeing the error of their ways and setting matters right. Lancelot is an excellent story. Nowhere does Chretien condemn the illicit relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere, despite negative references elsewhere to the adulterous love between Tristan and Iseult. The introduction suggests that Chretien's patroness may have proposed the theme. Perhaps, then, Chretien was anxious not to offend the French Court. At any rate, he didn't finish the romance and gave it to someone else (including this book's ending).
Nevertheless, he delivers the most mysterious, powerful, and influential Arthurian story. Here, we see the holy grail, the bleeding lance, and the castle of maidens, all of which have become essential ingredients in Arthurian lore. Moreover, its unfinished state presented an irresistible challenge to later poets, some of whom tried to finish it. Others went back to the beginning and offered alternative versions. The only story that gets a little static is Cliges, where the characters occasionally go off into protracted musings on the nature of love. But once you've got past these bits, which, to be fair, are intelligent insights, it's still an excellent read. All in all, I highly recommend this book. And if it doesn't want to make you start exploring Mallory, Von Eschenbach, and the rest, you've got no romance!
Marital love is an essential theme in Chretien. In Erec and Enide, the hero neglects his knightly reputation to devote himself to his new bride, and in Yvain, the hero does the opposite and neglects his bride for valor. Both must embark on a series of adventures culminating in seeing the error of their ways and setting matters right. Lancelot is an excellent story. Nowhere does Chretien condemn the illicit relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere, despite negative references elsewhere to the adulterous love between Tristan and Iseult. The introduction suggests that Chretien's patroness may have proposed the theme. Perhaps, then, Chretien was anxious not to offend the French Court. At any rate, he didn't finish the romance and gave it to someone else (including this book's ending).
Nevertheless, he delivers the most mysterious, powerful, and influential Arthurian story. Here, we see the holy grail, the bleeding lance, and the castle of maidens, all of which have become essential ingredients in Arthurian lore. Moreover, its unfinished state presented an irresistible challenge to later poets, some of whom tried to finish it. Others went back to the beginning and offered alternative versions. The only story that gets a little static is Cliges, where the characters occasionally go off into protracted musings on the nature of love. But once you've got past these bits, which, to be fair, are intelligent insights, it's still an excellent read. All in all, I highly recommend this book. And if it doesn't want to make you start exploring Mallory, Von Eschenbach, and the rest, you've got no romance!
May 9, 2021
Erec et Enide (one of a series)
Never mind Erec. This one’s about Enide. I came across a house called “Enid”, in Wales, and decided to re-read an old twelfth-century lay I hadn’t read since student days. Chrétien de Troyes wrote down his courtly stories because he was fed up of storytellers changing his tales to suit themselves and make more money (not a new phenomenon, then!).
Yes, this one turned out to be mainly set in Wales; King Arthur was holding court in Cardigan, although the characters seem to leap about between Wales, Cornwall, Edinburgh, Nantes and Liège fairly easily with no need of a journey of several weeks, and there’s no mention of a boat. I couldn’t find my old book at first (published by Mario Roques) and I read the storyline through quickly, in a prose translation; but what a joy when I tracked down the Old French original (on the top shelf, gathering dust)!
Immediately it was a different experience. The stolid English prose had done it to death. The Old French octosyllabic poem was full of life and fun. Instead of plodding dismally through the forest they galloped. Enide had to ride in front of Erec, and not tell him when she saw danger approaching; not very chivalrous! But Erec had to prove his prowess to her after she had dared to hint to him that people were talking about him going soft. He happily placed her in danger so that he could show off saving her. I wasn’t impressed with this, but I suppose it’s better than our old friend Stenka Razin who chucked his bride into the river when his crew made fun of him. Enide puts up with her 'punishment' as a dutiful wife should but manages to outwit him and thereby demonstrate her faithful love, although it takes a while to sink in to her courtly husband’s brain.
It seems Chrétien had been influenced by Ovid, whose works are apparently popular with feminists in this day and age. Ovid is a glaring omission from my reading, which I will remedy with more alacrity now Enide has come to light again. It is perhaps thanks to Ovid’s enlightened attitude to women that we have occasional insights into Enide's thinking and her patient endurance – and also her cleverness in dealing with a couple of unwelcome suitors while Erec either doesn’t realise what’s going on or else is bleeding almost to death from fights with knights. She’s noble, too. What Erec can do, she can do better – with the exception, of course, of all that heroic sparring.
I’m making fun of the courtly tale; but the language of this is just brilliant. The first thing that happens is that King Arthur hunts the White Stag. Chrétien writes this, “Le Blanc Cerf”; I shivered. It reminded me of the sinister Magua in “The Last of the Mohicans”. It’s the strange note sounded by the placing of the adjective before the noun; it elevates, and here strikes one as mysterious and savage.
There were times when reading this poem that a dramatic tone was achieved by means of what seemed to be a shorter couplet at the end of a section; I had to remind myself that Old French was pronounced differently and that the octosyllabic metre was still exact (emphasised in this edition by an accent over a vowel). But it was that sort of effect in the Old French that couldn’t be conveyed in the translation, useful though it was. It’s time I gave an example. When Enide is betrothed to Erec, her entire family is consumed with joy, as this will elevate them to the noble status of Enide’s mother and rescue them from poverty; but in the last two lines, which appear shorter, it’s almost as if Enide is having a secret smile to herself :
Grant joie font tuit par leanz :
Li peres an ert mult joianz,
et la mere plore de joie,
et la pucele ert tote coie,
mes molt estoit joianz et liee
qu’ele li estoit otroiee,
por ce que preuz et cortois,
et bien savoit qu’il serait rois
et ele meïsme enoree,
riche reïne coronee.
((Great joy was had by all,
her father was over the moon,
her mother weeping for joy,
and the girl quite calm,
though quite happy and content
that she was given to him,
as he was brave and gallant,
and she knew he would be king,
and she, honoured,
crowned a rich queen.)
She’s a young girl who can’t help thinking – no matter how courtly and heroic Erec might be – that she will become a queen. She must have been really fed up with Erec when he refused to allow her to be given a new dress for when he takes her to court, and makes her appear in her ragged old shift (he wants the queen to dress her, but is not concerned that she has to undergo the humiliation of arriving at court in her rags!).
What is interesting is that Enide develops, through her love for Erec and her consciousness of her role as his wife, no matter what their fortunes might be, as he forces her on his relentless quest for adventure (with her as the bait). She becomes a strong and clever woman, and when she does become queen, in the court at Nantes, she is no longer the young girl in love with a courtly image, but a woman who has saved her husband’s life, and (finally) had him recognise her quality.
I don’t want to write about the symbolic elements of the tale, such as when, in the climax to his adventures, Erec must find, and rescue, la “Joie de la Cort” (another rather stylised knight). I’m not qualified to write an academic critique. I see myself as one of the crowd who listened to one of the Hollywood versions proclaimed by the travelling storyteller. Maybe the men listened to the descriptions of the jousting, and the challenges of rogue knights, but I think the women would really have felt for Enide, and would probably have shaken their fists at Erec!
Enid is mentioned somewhere in The Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh legendary tales, which I intend to have a look at next. But I have Chrétien’s other lays, and will treat myself to another, one of these days!
Never mind Erec. This one’s about Enide. I came across a house called “Enid”, in Wales, and decided to re-read an old twelfth-century lay I hadn’t read since student days. Chrétien de Troyes wrote down his courtly stories because he was fed up of storytellers changing his tales to suit themselves and make more money (not a new phenomenon, then!).
Yes, this one turned out to be mainly set in Wales; King Arthur was holding court in Cardigan, although the characters seem to leap about between Wales, Cornwall, Edinburgh, Nantes and Liège fairly easily with no need of a journey of several weeks, and there’s no mention of a boat. I couldn’t find my old book at first (published by Mario Roques) and I read the storyline through quickly, in a prose translation; but what a joy when I tracked down the Old French original (on the top shelf, gathering dust)!
Immediately it was a different experience. The stolid English prose had done it to death. The Old French octosyllabic poem was full of life and fun. Instead of plodding dismally through the forest they galloped. Enide had to ride in front of Erec, and not tell him when she saw danger approaching; not very chivalrous! But Erec had to prove his prowess to her after she had dared to hint to him that people were talking about him going soft. He happily placed her in danger so that he could show off saving her. I wasn’t impressed with this, but I suppose it’s better than our old friend Stenka Razin who chucked his bride into the river when his crew made fun of him. Enide puts up with her 'punishment' as a dutiful wife should but manages to outwit him and thereby demonstrate her faithful love, although it takes a while to sink in to her courtly husband’s brain.
It seems Chrétien had been influenced by Ovid, whose works are apparently popular with feminists in this day and age. Ovid is a glaring omission from my reading, which I will remedy with more alacrity now Enide has come to light again. It is perhaps thanks to Ovid’s enlightened attitude to women that we have occasional insights into Enide's thinking and her patient endurance – and also her cleverness in dealing with a couple of unwelcome suitors while Erec either doesn’t realise what’s going on or else is bleeding almost to death from fights with knights. She’s noble, too. What Erec can do, she can do better – with the exception, of course, of all that heroic sparring.
I’m making fun of the courtly tale; but the language of this is just brilliant. The first thing that happens is that King Arthur hunts the White Stag. Chrétien writes this, “Le Blanc Cerf”; I shivered. It reminded me of the sinister Magua in “The Last of the Mohicans”. It’s the strange note sounded by the placing of the adjective before the noun; it elevates, and here strikes one as mysterious and savage.
There were times when reading this poem that a dramatic tone was achieved by means of what seemed to be a shorter couplet at the end of a section; I had to remind myself that Old French was pronounced differently and that the octosyllabic metre was still exact (emphasised in this edition by an accent over a vowel). But it was that sort of effect in the Old French that couldn’t be conveyed in the translation, useful though it was. It’s time I gave an example. When Enide is betrothed to Erec, her entire family is consumed with joy, as this will elevate them to the noble status of Enide’s mother and rescue them from poverty; but in the last two lines, which appear shorter, it’s almost as if Enide is having a secret smile to herself :
Grant joie font tuit par leanz :
Li peres an ert mult joianz,
et la mere plore de joie,
et la pucele ert tote coie,
mes molt estoit joianz et liee
qu’ele li estoit otroiee,
por ce que preuz et cortois,
et bien savoit qu’il serait rois
et ele meïsme enoree,
riche reïne coronee.
((Great joy was had by all,
her father was over the moon,
her mother weeping for joy,
and the girl quite calm,
though quite happy and content
that she was given to him,
as he was brave and gallant,
and she knew he would be king,
and she, honoured,
crowned a rich queen.)
She’s a young girl who can’t help thinking – no matter how courtly and heroic Erec might be – that she will become a queen. She must have been really fed up with Erec when he refused to allow her to be given a new dress for when he takes her to court, and makes her appear in her ragged old shift (he wants the queen to dress her, but is not concerned that she has to undergo the humiliation of arriving at court in her rags!).
What is interesting is that Enide develops, through her love for Erec and her consciousness of her role as his wife, no matter what their fortunes might be, as he forces her on his relentless quest for adventure (with her as the bait). She becomes a strong and clever woman, and when she does become queen, in the court at Nantes, she is no longer the young girl in love with a courtly image, but a woman who has saved her husband’s life, and (finally) had him recognise her quality.
I don’t want to write about the symbolic elements of the tale, such as when, in the climax to his adventures, Erec must find, and rescue, la “Joie de la Cort” (another rather stylised knight). I’m not qualified to write an academic critique. I see myself as one of the crowd who listened to one of the Hollywood versions proclaimed by the travelling storyteller. Maybe the men listened to the descriptions of the jousting, and the challenges of rogue knights, but I think the women would really have felt for Enide, and would probably have shaken their fists at Erec!
Enid is mentioned somewhere in The Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh legendary tales, which I intend to have a look at next. But I have Chrétien’s other lays, and will treat myself to another, one of these days!
April 2, 2017
Questo libro è la raccolta di 5 romanzi medievali e leggendolo mi sono trovato proiettato indietro nel tempo, in un mondo affascinante e ben diverso dal nostro.
L’autore ci racconta storie intrise di lealtà, eroismo, generosità e, soprattutto amore, quell’amore cortese interpretato magnificamente dai cavalieri della corte di Re Artù.
Combattimenti furiosi, eroi invincibili, duelli appassionati e scenari grandiosi, con l’amore per una damigella o una regina a fare da motore alle avventure mirabolanti, dove si guarisce con unguenti miracolosi e ci si consegna spontaneamente, sulla parola, alla persona designata dal vincitore che ti ha graziato, anche se questa persona, dama o cavaliere, si trovi a centinaia di chilometri di distanza!
Nonostante gli anni passati (i racconti sono del XII secolo) e lo stile d’epoca, ho sognato ad occhi aperti e mi sono persino arrabbiato per il comportamento della regina Ginevra!
L’autore ci racconta storie intrise di lealtà, eroismo, generosità e, soprattutto amore, quell’amore cortese interpretato magnificamente dai cavalieri della corte di Re Artù.
Combattimenti furiosi, eroi invincibili, duelli appassionati e scenari grandiosi, con l’amore per una damigella o una regina a fare da motore alle avventure mirabolanti, dove si guarisce con unguenti miracolosi e ci si consegna spontaneamente, sulla parola, alla persona designata dal vincitore che ti ha graziato, anche se questa persona, dama o cavaliere, si trovi a centinaia di chilometri di distanza!
Nonostante gli anni passati (i racconti sono del XII secolo) e lo stile d’epoca, ho sognato ad occhi aperti e mi sono persino arrabbiato per il comportamento della regina Ginevra!
September 19, 2020
The Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes. Troyes is a famous French poet known for his Arthurian work. One of the reasons I combined this review is because some of his works are also in the Arthurian Legends collection above. Anyway. The edition I have contains the stories of Eric and Enide, Cliges, Lancelot, Yvain, and Perceval. I love the stories of Erec and Enide. It is full of the chivalry concept that you think of when reading anything about King Arthur. Then there is Perceval and his search for the Grail. I love these stories so much. They are the definition of classics. I am glad I got to revisit them. 5 out of 5 stars!
August 25, 2020
I came across this one in my background reading of The Death of King Arthur . I knew these tales have left a huge impression as King Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, Merlin and Sir Gawain are still part of our literary culture, but I never would have guessed its complex journey of going back and forth between two nations, England and France, leaving a mark on both.
The original is written in Old French poetry. This modern prose translation was not as tough to read as I had feared, but my bigger worry was if I could comprehend any of its intertextuality. When I finished the second of five stories, I realised how it was lucky I had read Peter Ackroyd’s modern retelling of tales of King Arthur first. Without this, I would have missed the importance of a knight (and the relevance of their lifestyle), and I would have completely missed how love, even sensual love, has an affinity to Christianity. This made me think back to my reading of Tales from 1,001 Nights, which also tied love and sex to religion, but to Islam.
The first two stories, Erec and Enide and Cligės are beautiful romances – with a real modern feel and page turners, the last three are kind of like an adventure historical fiction. Okay, they weren’t always a riveting read, but I found them to be just as good for filling up narrative gaps with back stories (like the affair between Lancelot and Guinevere) or showing a different side to a character (Sir Gawain). What I liked the most about this read is it introduced me to more than the stock characters of King Arthur’s story, I also liked how it represented women. These knights, with all their courage and bravery, became weak and futile without the love of a woman. It’s the gift of a woman’s love that powers them and energises them to beat their foe or win a challenge. Without these women the knights lose their superpowers; so some of the women in these stories were just as important as the men.
This book is available on Gutenberg for free but I opted for this Penguin ed because of the intro essay and notes. I wasn’t disappointed, the essay gave me insight to interesting facts about how and why Chrétien de Troyes ended up writing these tales, facts which would have been difficult if I did not have a tiny understanding of England’s history of the Plantagenet – the period where there’s these close links to England and France after the Norman conquest. It would also be in this moment where I finally understood how tales that originated in England were first recorded in writing by a French author. His stories left such an impression, that down the line they would be written again three centuries later by Thomas Malory, an English author, and whose version is better known. If you’re interested in these tales you should check this one out.
I found this read enjoyable and at the same time helpful. King Arthur and co are no longer characters that I only know by name, now when I hear their names, I will be able to appreciate them better. Also, I now have more context to have a broader understanding of terms like chivalry, so finally Order of the Garter is making a touch more sense to me.
Books are brilliant, I can’t imagine a world without books.
The original is written in Old French poetry. This modern prose translation was not as tough to read as I had feared, but my bigger worry was if I could comprehend any of its intertextuality. When I finished the second of five stories, I realised how it was lucky I had read Peter Ackroyd’s modern retelling of tales of King Arthur first. Without this, I would have missed the importance of a knight (and the relevance of their lifestyle), and I would have completely missed how love, even sensual love, has an affinity to Christianity. This made me think back to my reading of Tales from 1,001 Nights, which also tied love and sex to religion, but to Islam.
The first two stories, Erec and Enide and Cligės are beautiful romances – with a real modern feel and page turners, the last three are kind of like an adventure historical fiction. Okay, they weren’t always a riveting read, but I found them to be just as good for filling up narrative gaps with back stories (like the affair between Lancelot and Guinevere) or showing a different side to a character (Sir Gawain). What I liked the most about this read is it introduced me to more than the stock characters of King Arthur’s story, I also liked how it represented women. These knights, with all their courage and bravery, became weak and futile without the love of a woman. It’s the gift of a woman’s love that powers them and energises them to beat their foe or win a challenge. Without these women the knights lose their superpowers; so some of the women in these stories were just as important as the men.
This book is available on Gutenberg for free but I opted for this Penguin ed because of the intro essay and notes. I wasn’t disappointed, the essay gave me insight to interesting facts about how and why Chrétien de Troyes ended up writing these tales, facts which would have been difficult if I did not have a tiny understanding of England’s history of the Plantagenet – the period where there’s these close links to England and France after the Norman conquest. It would also be in this moment where I finally understood how tales that originated in England were first recorded in writing by a French author. His stories left such an impression, that down the line they would be written again three centuries later by Thomas Malory, an English author, and whose version is better known. If you’re interested in these tales you should check this one out.
I found this read enjoyable and at the same time helpful. King Arthur and co are no longer characters that I only know by name, now when I hear their names, I will be able to appreciate them better. Also, I now have more context to have a broader understanding of terms like chivalry, so finally Order of the Garter is making a touch more sense to me.
Books are brilliant, I can’t imagine a world without books.
February 12, 2012
The British may have started the whole Arthurian movement, but the French really took it to the next level. French writers added a number of innovations to the legend we know and love today, including the character of Lancelot. Chrétien introduced the character in Erec and Enide, then added the whole Guinevere love wrinkle in The Knight of the Cart. Both of these poems are included in this collection, along with Cligès, Yvain, and Perceval.
Altogether this excellent collection contains all five of Chrétien's major poems. These works were highly influential to the later development of the Arthurian legend, and Camelot buffs will really enjoy this volume. C'mon...it's first appearance of Lancelot in world literature! If that piques your interest, you will like this book. 4 stars, recommended.
Altogether this excellent collection contains all five of Chrétien's major poems. These works were highly influential to the later development of the Arthurian legend, and Camelot buffs will really enjoy this volume. C'mon...it's first appearance of Lancelot in world literature! If that piques your interest, you will like this book. 4 stars, recommended.
July 15, 2010
I can't believe it's taken me so long to get round to reading this. I've had it on my reading list for ages -- before I knew it'd be a set text -- and I'm glad I finally got round to it. It isn't a novel, as such, of course, but a set of somewhat connected stories, the last one of which is unfinished. I'm surprised by how great a part Gawain plays, even in the stories of the other knights, particularly in The Story of the Grail -- I don't think I've really seen him get so much attention in the grail story, except as a failure, in other texts.
In any case, I knew "Erec and Enide" from some other source, that preserved it almost entirely -- almost a translation, rather than a reinterpretation! No surprises in this one, for me. This edition has a good clear translation. Of course, by modern logic, Erec's treatment of Enide makes no sense at all and is horribly cruel -- I think the more modern version I read had him suspecting her of infidelity, and emphasising it as the reason for his treatment of her -- but we're not talking modern logic!
I hadn't read "Cligés" anywhere, though, although it was familiar from the similarities it had with "Tristan and Isolde". The behaviour of Fenice seems very much like a criticism of faithless Isolde; it'd have been interesting to read Chrétien's version of "Tristan and Isolde", if it survived.
"The Knight of the Cart" has survived quite well in later interpretations, although it's been pruned and added to. It was interesting to read this one, although funny that though Lancelot is praised here, he's not really present in the other texts. He isn't the model of excellence that Malory makes him: Gawain seems to have that role.
"The Knight with the Lion" is interesting. I think bits of it survive -- I knew the story about the spring -- but a lot of his wandering, and how he met the lion, was unfamiliar to me.
"The Story of the Grail" follows the Welsh knight, Perceval. I can't say I really enjoyed that much, with the contempt of the characters for the Welsh, and the way Perceval was pretty much characterised as a simpleton. But a large part of the story follows Gawain, which I enjoyed a lot, and most of his adventures in this story were new to me.
It's kinda fun reading this and reading about how silly the whole idea of chivalry -- that never really existed -- was. Idealisation or not, I do love Arthuriana for its ridiculous excesses: every maiden is the most beautiful in the world, more beautiful than Helen of Troy, and every knight is the best and the most courtly in the land... Medieval literature can get away with it; I'm afraid modern lit can't.
In any case, I knew "Erec and Enide" from some other source, that preserved it almost entirely -- almost a translation, rather than a reinterpretation! No surprises in this one, for me. This edition has a good clear translation. Of course, by modern logic, Erec's treatment of Enide makes no sense at all and is horribly cruel -- I think the more modern version I read had him suspecting her of infidelity, and emphasising it as the reason for his treatment of her -- but we're not talking modern logic!
I hadn't read "Cligés" anywhere, though, although it was familiar from the similarities it had with "Tristan and Isolde". The behaviour of Fenice seems very much like a criticism of faithless Isolde; it'd have been interesting to read Chrétien's version of "Tristan and Isolde", if it survived.
"The Knight of the Cart" has survived quite well in later interpretations, although it's been pruned and added to. It was interesting to read this one, although funny that though Lancelot is praised here, he's not really present in the other texts. He isn't the model of excellence that Malory makes him: Gawain seems to have that role.
"The Knight with the Lion" is interesting. I think bits of it survive -- I knew the story about the spring -- but a lot of his wandering, and how he met the lion, was unfamiliar to me.
"The Story of the Grail" follows the Welsh knight, Perceval. I can't say I really enjoyed that much, with the contempt of the characters for the Welsh, and the way Perceval was pretty much characterised as a simpleton. But a large part of the story follows Gawain, which I enjoyed a lot, and most of his adventures in this story were new to me.
It's kinda fun reading this and reading about how silly the whole idea of chivalry -- that never really existed -- was. Idealisation or not, I do love Arthuriana for its ridiculous excesses: every maiden is the most beautiful in the world, more beautiful than Helen of Troy, and every knight is the best and the most courtly in the land... Medieval literature can get away with it; I'm afraid modern lit can't.
February 26, 2012
Originally published on my blog here in March 1998.
This Everyman volume contains the four romances Erec et Enide, Cligés, Yvain and Lancelot, translated into prose. It's always interesting to read the early source material for the Arthur legends. Although I had read both the Mabinogion and Malory's Morte d'Arthur, these romances were new to me, though they are even earlier than the Welsh legends and I had known their importance for ages.
One of the most interesting parts of these tales is the way that the attempts made by Chrétien to remove the more grossly supernatural Celtic legends in his source material (trips to the underworld, encounters with Celtic deities) has led to the introduction of small inconsistencies and justifications which later turn into important parts of the legend.
There are two difficulties in reading these stories. The first is that they are written throughout in the present tense, which to a modern reader is rather clumsy and wearing. The second is the translation, which is not into modern English, but into the sort of English which Ivanhoe made generations think the right way of writing medieval English. (I've expanded on what I think of this in my review of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sir Nigel.)
The stories themselves concern standard ideas from the Arthurian background; Erec et Enide is about a knight who becomes sufficiently uxorious to neglect his knightly duties; Cligés and Lancelot concern young men seeking to prove themselves as knights; and Yvain is a balance to Erec et Enide, about a knight who neglects his wife for jousting.
This Everyman volume contains the four romances Erec et Enide, Cligés, Yvain and Lancelot, translated into prose. It's always interesting to read the early source material for the Arthur legends. Although I had read both the Mabinogion and Malory's Morte d'Arthur, these romances were new to me, though they are even earlier than the Welsh legends and I had known their importance for ages.
One of the most interesting parts of these tales is the way that the attempts made by Chrétien to remove the more grossly supernatural Celtic legends in his source material (trips to the underworld, encounters with Celtic deities) has led to the introduction of small inconsistencies and justifications which later turn into important parts of the legend.
There are two difficulties in reading these stories. The first is that they are written throughout in the present tense, which to a modern reader is rather clumsy and wearing. The second is the translation, which is not into modern English, but into the sort of English which Ivanhoe made generations think the right way of writing medieval English. (I've expanded on what I think of this in my review of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sir Nigel.)
The stories themselves concern standard ideas from the Arthurian background; Erec et Enide is about a knight who becomes sufficiently uxorious to neglect his knightly duties; Cligés and Lancelot concern young men seeking to prove themselves as knights; and Yvain is a balance to Erec et Enide, about a knight who neglects his wife for jousting.
February 28, 2017
Chrétien de Troyes
Romans de la Table Ronde – written in early French language from 1170 to about 1185
The stories of King Arthur and his Knights, five of these stories have survived the centuries and are assembled in this collection.
- Erec et Enide
- Cligès
- Le chevalier de la Charrette, the story of Lancelot
- Le Chevalier au Lion, the story of Yvain
- The Legend of the Graal, the story of Percival and Garvin
This is the book that defines the rules and laws by which the knight has to flourish and gain everlasting honor and fame.
Pray to God, obey your king and succor, help and save any maiden, lady or widow in distress.
Always honor your given promises, never turn away from challenges and danger, but be humble and not loud and proud.
Many of these stories are of Celtic origin, as we read about mysterious forests, magic fountains, terrible giants, ferocious lions and beautiful castles, romantic love and colorful adventures.
Romans de la Table Ronde – written in early French language from 1170 to about 1185
The stories of King Arthur and his Knights, five of these stories have survived the centuries and are assembled in this collection.
- Erec et Enide
- Cligès
- Le chevalier de la Charrette, the story of Lancelot
- Le Chevalier au Lion, the story of Yvain
- The Legend of the Graal, the story of Percival and Garvin
This is the book that defines the rules and laws by which the knight has to flourish and gain everlasting honor and fame.
Pray to God, obey your king and succor, help and save any maiden, lady or widow in distress.
Always honor your given promises, never turn away from challenges and danger, but be humble and not loud and proud.
Many of these stories are of Celtic origin, as we read about mysterious forests, magic fountains, terrible giants, ferocious lions and beautiful castles, romantic love and colorful adventures.
June 11, 2018
This is the old, and obsolete, W.W. Comfort prose translation from the early twentieth century: he offered FOUR Arthurian romances by Chretien de Troyes, excluding the fifth, Perceval. Since they are out of copyright, these translations are now being reprinted, complete or one at a time. They are usually available very cheaply -- I suggest getting all four in one file, like this one, if you are interested, and can't afford the modern translations.
June 15, 2008
The predecessors to the medieval romance (of which the Arthurian tales are probably the most famous) were the chansons de geste (songs of deeds), epic poetry written down in the 11th and early 12th centuries, though sung much earlier. Their subject was war, which was plentiful, and martial honor, which was perhaps less so. Things started to settle down a bit as monarchies consolidated power, and with the rise of court culture comes a literature that develops elaborate codes of chivalry and courtly love, the direct ancestors to modern views of romance, 'courtship,' even personality. Stories tended to be of individual male heroes and their interactions with damsels (often but not always in distress), which was the impetus for some sort of chivalric adventure. Pagan (i.e. Celtic) folktales supplied most of the content, though they were refashioned to fit Christian, monarchical, and courtly needs. And lo! 'Fantasy' as we know it had its chief ancestor.
I checked this out of the library just to read Perceval, the oldest surviving written account of the Grail myth. It's both de Troyes' most famous tale and the least complete. You can find the plot on wikipedia, but it's interesting to note that the Grail has nothing to do with Jesus at this point, it's a pagan borrowing. Anyway, the story is pretty entertaining for the first half, then it switches abruptly to Gawain's story (which isn't as well-paced), then both end unresolved. Later writers took this incompleteness as an opportunity.
About the Everyman edition: a functional introduction followed by prose translations of all five stories: Erec and Enide, Cligès, Yvain, Knight of the Lion, Lancelot, Knight of the Cart, and Perceval, the Story of the Grail. There are ok notes, but the translation is stilted and kind of boring. I recommend getting verse translations of one story at at time and a good companion. If you need the single-volume treatment, David Staines has a better prose translation but no notes.
I checked this out of the library just to read Perceval, the oldest surviving written account of the Grail myth. It's both de Troyes' most famous tale and the least complete. You can find the plot on wikipedia, but it's interesting to note that the Grail has nothing to do with Jesus at this point, it's a pagan borrowing. Anyway, the story is pretty entertaining for the first half, then it switches abruptly to Gawain's story (which isn't as well-paced), then both end unresolved. Later writers took this incompleteness as an opportunity.
About the Everyman edition: a functional introduction followed by prose translations of all five stories: Erec and Enide, Cligès, Yvain, Knight of the Lion, Lancelot, Knight of the Cart, and Perceval, the Story of the Grail. There are ok notes, but the translation is stilted and kind of boring. I recommend getting verse translations of one story at at time and a good companion. If you need the single-volume treatment, David Staines has a better prose translation but no notes.
November 24, 2011
A prose translation with an introduction and footnotes, by William K. Kibler. I enjoyed them somewhat. The antiquated style, the endless repetition, the dry description and the meandering, random, red-herring plots that seemed to have been invented by Chrétien as he went along, were detrimental to absorbing and appreciating the stories fully. On the other hand, the dialogue was often witty and the character development good. Surprisingly, Chrétien wrote many strong women characters. The stories:
"Eric And Enide." This was translated by Carleton Carroll. A much shorter version of this is in Bullfinch (he uses the Welsh name for the hero "Geraint"). An original premise: Eric drags his wife off with him on adventures after she hurts his pride.
"Cligés." The monologues, in which Alexander and Soredamors, and then Cligés and Fenice, take turns ruminating ad nauseam on the caprices of Love, detract. Good combat scenes, however.
"The Knight Of the Cart (Lancelot)." Truncated versions of this and the two following stories appear in Bullfinch. A straightforward plot, but with so many ultimately useless divagations it's tiresome to follow.
"The Knight With the Lion (Yvain)." My favorite. An archetype of the courtly romance, with lots of fighting and fantastic elements (like Yvain's pet lion, which also undoubtedly represented courage or nobility). Yvain - "Owain" in Bullfinch and maybe history - is a true hero. There were also very strong women characters.
"The Story Of the Grail (Perceval)." The beginning is excellent, with the naive Perceval learning to become a knight. And there's some suspense and mystery. But on the whole there are too many subplots for my taste, especially when Gawain is involved. It ends mid-sentence, presumably with Chrétien's death.
"Eric And Enide." This was translated by Carleton Carroll. A much shorter version of this is in Bullfinch (he uses the Welsh name for the hero "Geraint"). An original premise: Eric drags his wife off with him on adventures after she hurts his pride.
"Cligés." The monologues, in which Alexander and Soredamors, and then Cligés and Fenice, take turns ruminating ad nauseam on the caprices of Love, detract. Good combat scenes, however.
"The Knight Of the Cart (Lancelot)." Truncated versions of this and the two following stories appear in Bullfinch. A straightforward plot, but with so many ultimately useless divagations it's tiresome to follow.
"The Knight With the Lion (Yvain)." My favorite. An archetype of the courtly romance, with lots of fighting and fantastic elements (like Yvain's pet lion, which also undoubtedly represented courage or nobility). Yvain - "Owain" in Bullfinch and maybe history - is a true hero. There were also very strong women characters.
"The Story Of the Grail (Perceval)." The beginning is excellent, with the naive Perceval learning to become a knight. And there's some suspense and mystery. But on the whole there are too many subplots for my taste, especially when Gawain is involved. It ends mid-sentence, presumably with Chrétien's death.
May 16, 2012
Je donnerais 5 étoiles sans hésiter à Chrétien de Troyes, mais je suis très déçu par ce recueil, premièrement du fait que son titre m’avait laissé croire qu’il contenait l’ensemble des romans de la table ronde, alors qu’il fallait plutôt le comprendre au sens où il en contient plus d’un. De manière plus précise, le recueil contient des extraits d’Érec et Énide, de Cligès ou la Fausse Morte, de même que l’entièreté de Lancelot le chevalier à la charrette (avec un résumé d’une demi page de la suite écrite par Geoffroy de Lagny) et Yvain le chevalier au lion dans leur entièreté.
Ensuite, la préface et les dossiers que l’on trouve à la fin sont très sommaires, les notes sont absentes de même que les versions originales.
Ceci dit, les inventions de Chrétien ne manqueront pas de charmer son lecteur, de même que l’étrange idéal « courtois » qu’il tente d’établir et toutes les références aux coutumes quotidiennes de la chevalerie qu’on y trouve.
À lire dans d'autres éditions...
Ensuite, la préface et les dossiers que l’on trouve à la fin sont très sommaires, les notes sont absentes de même que les versions originales.
Ceci dit, les inventions de Chrétien ne manqueront pas de charmer son lecteur, de même que l’étrange idéal « courtois » qu’il tente d’établir et toutes les références aux coutumes quotidiennes de la chevalerie qu’on y trouve.
À lire dans d'autres éditions...
June 11, 2018
This is the old, and obsolete, W.W. Comfort prose translation from the early twentieth century: he offered FOUR Arthurian romances by Chretien de Troyes, excluding the fifth, Perceval. Since they are out of copyright, these translations are now being reprinted, complete or one at a time. They are usually available very cheaply -- I suggest getting all four in one file, like this one, if you are interested, and can't afford the modern translations.
March 21, 2023
In this masterpiece collection of Chrétien de Troyes’s Arthurian works, we have many a shattered shield, broken lance, blood spattered hauberk, blood drinking sword, and mighty horse. There are mysterious brooding knights who stand as gatekeepers and guardians of ethereal, dreamlike lands, there are decapitations and dismemberments too numerous to count, magical rings revealing illusions or disguising the wearer or imbuing them with special power. There is the zealous love of maidens, boiling passions and unforgettable characters borne of the untamed medieval imagination, excursions into 12th century courtly ethics, abusive dwarves, and grand adventures in strange distant lands. Love is treated dramatically, yet with a touch of realism and in a poetic manner that emphasizes its vicissitudes and oddness and unexplainability.
Although this translation presents the originally poetic works in prose, it seems that little of poetic power was lost in translation. Often the prose flows so eloquently and musically that it retains the feel of poetry in its ability to evoke images, sensations, atmospheres, and emotions. And it does these in a style that, at least to my mind, does justice to the time and place of its composition instead of trying to feel modern and altered for “accessibility”. Chrétien’s writing is exquisite, and was inspired by Celtic and classical sources like Ovid, chanson de geste, Welsh myth, southern French troubadour poetry, Tristan legends, Virgil, the Medea legend, Alexander the Great, Caesar, and other conquerors of history who set templates for his fantasy.
His dialogue is lively and composed with grace, adeptness, humor, style, and charisma. Unlike many other fiction writings of the period, Chrétien takes us into the minds of his protagonists. Emotions and inner feelings and conflicts are portrayed in sophisticated and nuanced ways, as opposing ideas of love and hate do battle within one heart, or senses of duty or honor or justice create conflicting priorities, or desires for vengeance compete against desires for courtesy, or lust for honor competes against the need to do the right thing and watch over someone’s safety. There is a struggle in following courtly ethics when these work against one’s benefit or wellness. We see endless examples of tribulations that are physical, mental, and social. A motif recurring in these tales is one in which a boon is requested and agreed to before the granter of the boon is made aware of what is being asked, thus setting them on an often perilous quest. There are times that my thoughts on a book are so dense and excited that I feel I lack the vocabulary to adequately convey them. This is one such case.
The figures of legend he introduces us to make displays of great deeds and heroism and chivalry and honor. They are guided by noble hearts, and they show courage in the face of extreme danger. They are knights in extraordinary circumstances, doing what they can to enhance their reputations and renown. Figures that represent the twelfth century French ideal in man. They abide by the highest virtues of character. The men of Arthur’s court are valiant, adventurous champions and warriors, exhibiting prowess in arms, courage against all odds, endurance and the ability to take beatings and keep standing, to fight to the death, but will not stoop to dishonor. Any chance to prove themselves is taken and eagerly carried out, in all fantastical manner of feats and epic quests and strange trials and inexplicable happenings and foreboding circumstances.
In two different stories Chrétien makes financial metaphors for battle, with lending, borrowing, and repaying with interest his phrases for relaying the exchange of blows.
Although Arthurian legend originally had Arthur living in the fifth and sixth centuries, these stories clearly place Arthur and his knights in twelfth century Britain. The Knight with the Lion, the story of Yvain, references the Sultan Nureddin, who lived in the twelfth century. Another clue is the decoration of knight’s shields with their coat of arms, something we see in the tournaments in Erec and Enide, which became a practice in the late twelfth century.
In Chrétien’s works, Arthur is an aged king whose glories are part of history. The tales here are not about him directly, he is a king whose name has become synonymous with honor and power and chivalry. His court is the greatest in the world, his kingdom the most flourishing. His deeds are not of interest. Each story focuses on the adventures and deeds of one knight of Arthur’s court, with the exception of the last one, the Story of the Grail, which has a narrative split between Perceval and Gawain. These stories are each about as long as a novella, and the longest, Story of the Grail, was never finished, leading to the composition of five different continuations written by other authors of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Three of the stories have parallels in the Welsh Mabinogion, but scholars believe neither that book nor this inspired the other: both were based on oral or written source myths that have since been lost. Perceval has a twin in the Mabinogion’s Peredur, Erec has a twin in the Mabinogion’s Gereint, and Yvain has a twin in the Mabinogion’s Owein. While many details differ, there are scores of similarities between the stories, and in Erec’s/Gereint’s case, almost the entire narrative is shared, with minor changes. Chrétien’s stories are longer and more fleshed out, but it’s of course fascinating to compare the stories and observe how they differ in their style and focus and details, reflecting differing cultures (Welsh and French).
There’s no need for me to discuss each story at length, but I’m going to anyway. I have a swarm of thoughts flying around about each of these stories, and find them each thrilling and fascinating for dozens of reasons so that I’m now going to become that dull guy at a party everyone avoids because he goes on and on about things no one cares about, unable to read the room when everyone is bored by his endless monologue. Since four of the five stories have Welsh or German adaptations, or both, I find it important to relay some of the key elements of these stories so I can compare them later. This is for my own benefit, but also for anyone intrigued by this book, but not intrigued enough to read it.
Erec and Enide
This is an adventure story about Erec of Arthur’s court, the second hand man after Gawain, and his defending the honor of Guinevere against a mysterious knight and his dwarf. He marries Enide who he meets in the town harboring this knight. His love is so great he no longer wants to perform heroic feats, just wants to stay at Enide’s side and be with her. Rumors begin and Enide’s mourning gets him to realize he must go out into the world to seek adventure and danger and heroic acts. As punishment he takes his wife with him on all sorts of fantastic adventures, attaining even greater glory than ever before, meeting other remarkable characters along the way. The tale climaxes in the Joy of the Court, his final adventure. He is then crowned king. The story is filled with violence and dismemberment and bloodshed and skull splitting and savage combat and broken armor and weapons. It presents psychological depth to Enide’s fears and reflections and worry as she is dragged along this series of quests and adventures.
Cliges
This is an Arthurian saga in the proper sense, starting a generation before the main heroic narrative. To my knowledge, this is the only story here without a Welsh or German parallel. The depth of emotion in Alexander and Soredamors as they fall in love is poetic and masterfully composed, bard-like, and authentic. The storytelling interweaves romance with contrasting violence of equally potent poetry, scenes of war, execution, valor, blood, brains, and bones, as Alexander and his Greek companions, now in service of King Arthur, help the king to reclaim his castle from Count Angrés. Alexander is rewarded with the kingship of Wales for his heroism and victory. And all this before the birth of our titular character, Cliges, the son of Alexander.
Cliges and Fenice’s love is also deep, emotionally nuanced and insightful, poetic. Alexander’s brother Alis has become emperor of Greece and, against his agreement with Alexander, is wedded to Fenice, the daughter of Germany’s emperor. This means Cliges might not rise to the throne as agreed, if Alis has a child.
Fenice was originally promised to the Duke of Saxony, and so the Duke and his army attack to steal her away. Cliges reveals himself to be every bit the hero his father was, with the same cleverness for disguise, and rescues Fenice after brutal battles with the Saxons, decapitations, impailings, and ruthlessness. She and Cliges fall in love, but Cliges, upon his dying father’s wishes, goes to Arthur’s court and proves himself in a tournament, disguised in a new armor each day. Here we are gifted torture, defenestration, a potion-making necromancer, many deceptions through disguise, false death, and enchantments. Cliges hides Fenice away in a tower, and after harrowing feats and good fortune, he becomes emperor of Greece. His uncle has died of sadness at the loss of his wife.
The Knight of the Cart
This tale is mysterious and dreamlike, constantly presenting us with bizarre circumstances. Guinevere is taken to the distant land of Gorre by Kay at the behest of a mysterious visitor to Arthur’s court in an effort to free the people of Logres who are held captive there. This story features the first ever mention of Camelot. Lancelot, though unnamed for most of the story, is encountered by Gawain amongst the remnants of battle against a large force shortly after the queen has been taken away. They are approached by a dwarf driving a cart. He offers to guide them to Gorre, but only if one of them will ride in the cart. In this age, criminals were condemned to ride in carts to be mocked and ridiculed by the townspeople. Lancelot agrees to ride in the cart, and this decision is held against him throughout the story, as everyone he encounters knows him as the knight who rode in the cart. Thus his honor is stained, his reputation scarred, and it serves as justification for others to hate him.
The knights soon split up to take different paths to the same goal. Lancelot is often lost in thought as he moves through this land, thinking of the queen. He encounters many grand adventures, and meets loyal and admiring companions who are eager to have him free them from this land. There are many bloodthirsty enemies, and maidens who request favors and offer repayment in the future. Lancelot removes a stone slab, said to require the strength of seven men. It is said that moving it would allow the release of all foreigners held captive to this strange land. This shows he is capable of freeing all the captives who have settled. An uprising later occurs, Logresians versus natives. In his later meeting with Guinevere he slices his finger and leaves blood on the queen’s sheets, an obvious nod to the Tristan legend, when his blood on Isolde’s sheets reveals their affair. Lancelot is held captive for a long time in a tower, and later rescued by Maleagant’s sister, whom Lancelot gifted the head of a knight he met in battle, their final battle to the death. Lancelot proves himself quite capable of decapitations in these adventures.
The Knight With the Lion
This story shows us that seneschal Kay is a sarcastic, mean spirited curmudgeon, feared by most in Arthur’s court for his sharp tongue. Yvain is the son of Welsh king Urien, making him one of the only Arthurian knights to be based on a real historical person. This son, Owein, also appears in two tales of the Mabinogion. Yvain sets off to avenge his cousin by performing a ritual of water on a stone, creating storms and then a serenity with birds singing, followed by a knight who comes to defend his fountain. He slays the knight and after being hunted eventually marries the knight’s widow and becomes lord of this peculiar realm. During his tournament tour away from home with King Arthur he stays abroad too long, turning his wife against him. In his anguish he flees to the woods, to live as a “madman and a savage” away from society.
He lives like this until he is rescued by a woman who applies an ointment from Morgan the Wise to him, healing his mind. He returns to her village and later helps the villagers fight off a count who is pillaging them. After this heroism he sets off into the woods again, and rescues a lion from a dragon. He and the lion become inseparable and stay close together. Their bond is envious, an almost heartwarming companionship of fierce warriors who love one another as equals. Together they achieve many an incredible victory, such as that against Harpin of the Mountain, a giant demanding the daughter of the lord of the town Yvain stays in. They then rescue the damsel Lynette who rescued Yvain earlier from the angry villagers whose lord he would later become. They save her from the flames of her accusers, fighting three men. Yvain fights alone at first, then his lion joins the fray. Its wrath is poetically told as he slays and tears and shreds the seneschal and his brothers. It is beautifully savage rendered carnage. Yvain and his lion become heroes of justice, building a reputation for helping those in dire circumstances.
The Story of the Grail
All the tales so far are imbued with a wonderfully mysterious essence, but the Story of the Grail tops them all in its puzzling, ominous, strange encounters and events. A simple-minded and funny young boy named Perceval the Welshman becomes a skilled warrior and is taught by an elder knight to handle and carry himself in a courtly, respectable way. He is taught to stop asking so many dumb questions, and to be silent more often. A laughing maiden in Arthur’s court, upon meeting him, signals a prophecy that this boy will become a great knight, and Kay slaps her for this. The boy obtains a set of red armor by killing a thieving knight with his hunting javelin. In his impetuous youthfulness and ignorance he kisses a woman in a tent and takes her ring, angering her husband who, later, becomes the Haughty Knight of the Heath. Perceval defends a town under siege by defeating the attacking commander and the king, both of whom he sends to Arthur and to inform the queen’s maiden that he will be back to avenge the slap Kay gave her.
He sets off to find word of his mother. He meets and is lodged by the exalted Fisher King, who gives him a fine sword from a Venetian smith, and in whose keep we see the grail and a mysterious lance that bleeds from its tip. Perceval does not ask questions, as he was taught. From a woman he later meets under peculiar circumstances, holding the decapitated body of her beloved knight who has been killed by the Haughty Knight of the Heath, he learns that his failure to ask questions about the grail and lance has brought bad fortune to the Fisher King. His wounds will not heal. A later ugly prophetess predicts all sorts of terrible things will befall his people because Percival did not inquire about the lance and the grail.
The Haughty knight has been leading his wife on her malnourished palfrey to pay for what he assumes was a rape, when she was kissed by Perceval. Perceval defeats this knight, and demands he treat his wife better, and sends him to surrender himself at Arthur’s court. There is a scene much like one in Peredur Son of Evrawg from the Mabinogion. Perceval stands still while staring at blood in the snow from a goose’s neck, reminding him of his love’s cheeks. He is lost in thought, and is approached by men of Arthur’s court wishing to speak with him, and he defeats them all until Gawain uses his kind words to bring him to Arthur.
Here the narrative shifts to follow Gawain as he travels to do battle in defense of his honor after he is accused of treason and murdering a man, and his adventures along the way. When in danger of being taken by townspeople he uses chessboard as a shield and for the first time the sword Excalibur is mentioned being at his side. He and a damsel he has met defend themselves by thrashing the townspeople and throwing chess pieces. Eventually he is tasked with finding the lance that bleeds. It is said this lance will destroy the kingdom of Logres. After he’s given this task, we return to Perceval. After years of adventuring and having forgotten God after his sins, he meets a hermit who tells him the secret of the grail. It carries a holy life giving host. He learns this hermit is his uncle, and the hermit’s advice is like that of his mother and cousin earlier, repeating themes of biblical moral codes. Perceval’s quest becomes in some capacity what seems almost allegorical. He is relearning his Christian religion and upbringing. Things are growing more complex and the tale is showing no sign of being resolved.
We return to Gawain. Shortly after surviving strenuous ordeals to retrieve a horse and strange maiden, to then heal a knight and be mercilessly betrayed and robbed, and then to fell another knight and recover his stolen horse, he is told by a boatman “this is a wild land full of great wonders.” Quite the understatement. All people he meets have an oddness to them, as though they are part of some elaborate puzzle. He sees the Bed of Marvels, survives its traps and spells and becomes lord of this castle. Then encounters the Perilous Ford and survives it as well, before having himself tasked with yet another quest that will distract from his seeking the bleeding lance.
Unfortunately Chrétien never finished this story. He also didn’t finish the story of Lancelot, but that one was finished, with his approval, by another writer, in his lifetime. The story of Perceval and Gawain was possibly unfinished because of the author’s death. The Penguin classics version of this book includes an appendix that summarizes the five continuations of the Story of the Grail by different authors. These continuations sound marvelous in their own ways, worth reading if complete translations have ever been made available. Given the complicated and wild threads that kept growing in this story, there was quite a lot of work necessary to tie up all the loose ends. It seems these continuations more than doubled the length of what was already the longest of Chrétien’s Arthurian romances.
This collection is spectacular. Each story is a masterwork of epic and myth making fantasy, a precursor to centuries of imitators and followers. It is a flame of imagination that engulfed the public mind.
Although this translation presents the originally poetic works in prose, it seems that little of poetic power was lost in translation. Often the prose flows so eloquently and musically that it retains the feel of poetry in its ability to evoke images, sensations, atmospheres, and emotions. And it does these in a style that, at least to my mind, does justice to the time and place of its composition instead of trying to feel modern and altered for “accessibility”. Chrétien’s writing is exquisite, and was inspired by Celtic and classical sources like Ovid, chanson de geste, Welsh myth, southern French troubadour poetry, Tristan legends, Virgil, the Medea legend, Alexander the Great, Caesar, and other conquerors of history who set templates for his fantasy.
His dialogue is lively and composed with grace, adeptness, humor, style, and charisma. Unlike many other fiction writings of the period, Chrétien takes us into the minds of his protagonists. Emotions and inner feelings and conflicts are portrayed in sophisticated and nuanced ways, as opposing ideas of love and hate do battle within one heart, or senses of duty or honor or justice create conflicting priorities, or desires for vengeance compete against desires for courtesy, or lust for honor competes against the need to do the right thing and watch over someone’s safety. There is a struggle in following courtly ethics when these work against one’s benefit or wellness. We see endless examples of tribulations that are physical, mental, and social. A motif recurring in these tales is one in which a boon is requested and agreed to before the granter of the boon is made aware of what is being asked, thus setting them on an often perilous quest. There are times that my thoughts on a book are so dense and excited that I feel I lack the vocabulary to adequately convey them. This is one such case.
The figures of legend he introduces us to make displays of great deeds and heroism and chivalry and honor. They are guided by noble hearts, and they show courage in the face of extreme danger. They are knights in extraordinary circumstances, doing what they can to enhance their reputations and renown. Figures that represent the twelfth century French ideal in man. They abide by the highest virtues of character. The men of Arthur’s court are valiant, adventurous champions and warriors, exhibiting prowess in arms, courage against all odds, endurance and the ability to take beatings and keep standing, to fight to the death, but will not stoop to dishonor. Any chance to prove themselves is taken and eagerly carried out, in all fantastical manner of feats and epic quests and strange trials and inexplicable happenings and foreboding circumstances.
In two different stories Chrétien makes financial metaphors for battle, with lending, borrowing, and repaying with interest his phrases for relaying the exchange of blows.
Although Arthurian legend originally had Arthur living in the fifth and sixth centuries, these stories clearly place Arthur and his knights in twelfth century Britain. The Knight with the Lion, the story of Yvain, references the Sultan Nureddin, who lived in the twelfth century. Another clue is the decoration of knight’s shields with their coat of arms, something we see in the tournaments in Erec and Enide, which became a practice in the late twelfth century.
In Chrétien’s works, Arthur is an aged king whose glories are part of history. The tales here are not about him directly, he is a king whose name has become synonymous with honor and power and chivalry. His court is the greatest in the world, his kingdom the most flourishing. His deeds are not of interest. Each story focuses on the adventures and deeds of one knight of Arthur’s court, with the exception of the last one, the Story of the Grail, which has a narrative split between Perceval and Gawain. These stories are each about as long as a novella, and the longest, Story of the Grail, was never finished, leading to the composition of five different continuations written by other authors of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Three of the stories have parallels in the Welsh Mabinogion, but scholars believe neither that book nor this inspired the other: both were based on oral or written source myths that have since been lost. Perceval has a twin in the Mabinogion’s Peredur, Erec has a twin in the Mabinogion’s Gereint, and Yvain has a twin in the Mabinogion’s Owein. While many details differ, there are scores of similarities between the stories, and in Erec’s/Gereint’s case, almost the entire narrative is shared, with minor changes. Chrétien’s stories are longer and more fleshed out, but it’s of course fascinating to compare the stories and observe how they differ in their style and focus and details, reflecting differing cultures (Welsh and French).
There’s no need for me to discuss each story at length, but I’m going to anyway. I have a swarm of thoughts flying around about each of these stories, and find them each thrilling and fascinating for dozens of reasons so that I’m now going to become that dull guy at a party everyone avoids because he goes on and on about things no one cares about, unable to read the room when everyone is bored by his endless monologue. Since four of the five stories have Welsh or German adaptations, or both, I find it important to relay some of the key elements of these stories so I can compare them later. This is for my own benefit, but also for anyone intrigued by this book, but not intrigued enough to read it.
Erec and Enide
This is an adventure story about Erec of Arthur’s court, the second hand man after Gawain, and his defending the honor of Guinevere against a mysterious knight and his dwarf. He marries Enide who he meets in the town harboring this knight. His love is so great he no longer wants to perform heroic feats, just wants to stay at Enide’s side and be with her. Rumors begin and Enide’s mourning gets him to realize he must go out into the world to seek adventure and danger and heroic acts. As punishment he takes his wife with him on all sorts of fantastic adventures, attaining even greater glory than ever before, meeting other remarkable characters along the way. The tale climaxes in the Joy of the Court, his final adventure. He is then crowned king. The story is filled with violence and dismemberment and bloodshed and skull splitting and savage combat and broken armor and weapons. It presents psychological depth to Enide’s fears and reflections and worry as she is dragged along this series of quests and adventures.
Cliges
This is an Arthurian saga in the proper sense, starting a generation before the main heroic narrative. To my knowledge, this is the only story here without a Welsh or German parallel. The depth of emotion in Alexander and Soredamors as they fall in love is poetic and masterfully composed, bard-like, and authentic. The storytelling interweaves romance with contrasting violence of equally potent poetry, scenes of war, execution, valor, blood, brains, and bones, as Alexander and his Greek companions, now in service of King Arthur, help the king to reclaim his castle from Count Angrés. Alexander is rewarded with the kingship of Wales for his heroism and victory. And all this before the birth of our titular character, Cliges, the son of Alexander.
Cliges and Fenice’s love is also deep, emotionally nuanced and insightful, poetic. Alexander’s brother Alis has become emperor of Greece and, against his agreement with Alexander, is wedded to Fenice, the daughter of Germany’s emperor. This means Cliges might not rise to the throne as agreed, if Alis has a child.
Fenice was originally promised to the Duke of Saxony, and so the Duke and his army attack to steal her away. Cliges reveals himself to be every bit the hero his father was, with the same cleverness for disguise, and rescues Fenice after brutal battles with the Saxons, decapitations, impailings, and ruthlessness. She and Cliges fall in love, but Cliges, upon his dying father’s wishes, goes to Arthur’s court and proves himself in a tournament, disguised in a new armor each day. Here we are gifted torture, defenestration, a potion-making necromancer, many deceptions through disguise, false death, and enchantments. Cliges hides Fenice away in a tower, and after harrowing feats and good fortune, he becomes emperor of Greece. His uncle has died of sadness at the loss of his wife.
The Knight of the Cart
This tale is mysterious and dreamlike, constantly presenting us with bizarre circumstances. Guinevere is taken to the distant land of Gorre by Kay at the behest of a mysterious visitor to Arthur’s court in an effort to free the people of Logres who are held captive there. This story features the first ever mention of Camelot. Lancelot, though unnamed for most of the story, is encountered by Gawain amongst the remnants of battle against a large force shortly after the queen has been taken away. They are approached by a dwarf driving a cart. He offers to guide them to Gorre, but only if one of them will ride in the cart. In this age, criminals were condemned to ride in carts to be mocked and ridiculed by the townspeople. Lancelot agrees to ride in the cart, and this decision is held against him throughout the story, as everyone he encounters knows him as the knight who rode in the cart. Thus his honor is stained, his reputation scarred, and it serves as justification for others to hate him.
The knights soon split up to take different paths to the same goal. Lancelot is often lost in thought as he moves through this land, thinking of the queen. He encounters many grand adventures, and meets loyal and admiring companions who are eager to have him free them from this land. There are many bloodthirsty enemies, and maidens who request favors and offer repayment in the future. Lancelot removes a stone slab, said to require the strength of seven men. It is said that moving it would allow the release of all foreigners held captive to this strange land. This shows he is capable of freeing all the captives who have settled. An uprising later occurs, Logresians versus natives. In his later meeting with Guinevere he slices his finger and leaves blood on the queen’s sheets, an obvious nod to the Tristan legend, when his blood on Isolde’s sheets reveals their affair. Lancelot is held captive for a long time in a tower, and later rescued by Maleagant’s sister, whom Lancelot gifted the head of a knight he met in battle, their final battle to the death. Lancelot proves himself quite capable of decapitations in these adventures.
The Knight With the Lion
This story shows us that seneschal Kay is a sarcastic, mean spirited curmudgeon, feared by most in Arthur’s court for his sharp tongue. Yvain is the son of Welsh king Urien, making him one of the only Arthurian knights to be based on a real historical person. This son, Owein, also appears in two tales of the Mabinogion. Yvain sets off to avenge his cousin by performing a ritual of water on a stone, creating storms and then a serenity with birds singing, followed by a knight who comes to defend his fountain. He slays the knight and after being hunted eventually marries the knight’s widow and becomes lord of this peculiar realm. During his tournament tour away from home with King Arthur he stays abroad too long, turning his wife against him. In his anguish he flees to the woods, to live as a “madman and a savage” away from society.
He lives like this until he is rescued by a woman who applies an ointment from Morgan the Wise to him, healing his mind. He returns to her village and later helps the villagers fight off a count who is pillaging them. After this heroism he sets off into the woods again, and rescues a lion from a dragon. He and the lion become inseparable and stay close together. Their bond is envious, an almost heartwarming companionship of fierce warriors who love one another as equals. Together they achieve many an incredible victory, such as that against Harpin of the Mountain, a giant demanding the daughter of the lord of the town Yvain stays in. They then rescue the damsel Lynette who rescued Yvain earlier from the angry villagers whose lord he would later become. They save her from the flames of her accusers, fighting three men. Yvain fights alone at first, then his lion joins the fray. Its wrath is poetically told as he slays and tears and shreds the seneschal and his brothers. It is beautifully savage rendered carnage. Yvain and his lion become heroes of justice, building a reputation for helping those in dire circumstances.
The Story of the Grail
All the tales so far are imbued with a wonderfully mysterious essence, but the Story of the Grail tops them all in its puzzling, ominous, strange encounters and events. A simple-minded and funny young boy named Perceval the Welshman becomes a skilled warrior and is taught by an elder knight to handle and carry himself in a courtly, respectable way. He is taught to stop asking so many dumb questions, and to be silent more often. A laughing maiden in Arthur’s court, upon meeting him, signals a prophecy that this boy will become a great knight, and Kay slaps her for this. The boy obtains a set of red armor by killing a thieving knight with his hunting javelin. In his impetuous youthfulness and ignorance he kisses a woman in a tent and takes her ring, angering her husband who, later, becomes the Haughty Knight of the Heath. Perceval defends a town under siege by defeating the attacking commander and the king, both of whom he sends to Arthur and to inform the queen’s maiden that he will be back to avenge the slap Kay gave her.
He sets off to find word of his mother. He meets and is lodged by the exalted Fisher King, who gives him a fine sword from a Venetian smith, and in whose keep we see the grail and a mysterious lance that bleeds from its tip. Perceval does not ask questions, as he was taught. From a woman he later meets under peculiar circumstances, holding the decapitated body of her beloved knight who has been killed by the Haughty Knight of the Heath, he learns that his failure to ask questions about the grail and lance has brought bad fortune to the Fisher King. His wounds will not heal. A later ugly prophetess predicts all sorts of terrible things will befall his people because Percival did not inquire about the lance and the grail.
The Haughty knight has been leading his wife on her malnourished palfrey to pay for what he assumes was a rape, when she was kissed by Perceval. Perceval defeats this knight, and demands he treat his wife better, and sends him to surrender himself at Arthur’s court. There is a scene much like one in Peredur Son of Evrawg from the Mabinogion. Perceval stands still while staring at blood in the snow from a goose’s neck, reminding him of his love’s cheeks. He is lost in thought, and is approached by men of Arthur’s court wishing to speak with him, and he defeats them all until Gawain uses his kind words to bring him to Arthur.
Here the narrative shifts to follow Gawain as he travels to do battle in defense of his honor after he is accused of treason and murdering a man, and his adventures along the way. When in danger of being taken by townspeople he uses chessboard as a shield and for the first time the sword Excalibur is mentioned being at his side. He and a damsel he has met defend themselves by thrashing the townspeople and throwing chess pieces. Eventually he is tasked with finding the lance that bleeds. It is said this lance will destroy the kingdom of Logres. After he’s given this task, we return to Perceval. After years of adventuring and having forgotten God after his sins, he meets a hermit who tells him the secret of the grail. It carries a holy life giving host. He learns this hermit is his uncle, and the hermit’s advice is like that of his mother and cousin earlier, repeating themes of biblical moral codes. Perceval’s quest becomes in some capacity what seems almost allegorical. He is relearning his Christian religion and upbringing. Things are growing more complex and the tale is showing no sign of being resolved.
We return to Gawain. Shortly after surviving strenuous ordeals to retrieve a horse and strange maiden, to then heal a knight and be mercilessly betrayed and robbed, and then to fell another knight and recover his stolen horse, he is told by a boatman “this is a wild land full of great wonders.” Quite the understatement. All people he meets have an oddness to them, as though they are part of some elaborate puzzle. He sees the Bed of Marvels, survives its traps and spells and becomes lord of this castle. Then encounters the Perilous Ford and survives it as well, before having himself tasked with yet another quest that will distract from his seeking the bleeding lance.
Unfortunately Chrétien never finished this story. He also didn’t finish the story of Lancelot, but that one was finished, with his approval, by another writer, in his lifetime. The story of Perceval and Gawain was possibly unfinished because of the author’s death. The Penguin classics version of this book includes an appendix that summarizes the five continuations of the Story of the Grail by different authors. These continuations sound marvelous in their own ways, worth reading if complete translations have ever been made available. Given the complicated and wild threads that kept growing in this story, there was quite a lot of work necessary to tie up all the loose ends. It seems these continuations more than doubled the length of what was already the longest of Chrétien’s Arthurian romances.
This collection is spectacular. Each story is a masterwork of epic and myth making fantasy, a precursor to centuries of imitators and followers. It is a flame of imagination that engulfed the public mind.
April 3, 2025
These five "romances" exceeded expectations. Chretien de Troyes not only invented the courtly romance genre but was also the father of Arthurian literature as we know it. All of the stories, except "The Knight of the Cart (Lancelot)," were brilliant. They are not only fast-paced stories that move quickly, reach a fitting resolution, and teach through example and their own internal justice, but they are also complex stories that are obviously crafted by a master storyteller. You can see the Biblical influence on the stories, not just by their Christian themes and explicit prayers and blessings, but also by how the stories are told, their form and the narrative devices used which mimic Old Testament passages.
Each romance is similar--including tournaments, damsels in distress, towns or castles in need of saving, challenges from evil men, attacks on honor, superlatives (each knight/main character is always the bravest and best in the world)--yet each has its distinct themes and form. For example, Erec and Enide seems to be more about marriage, and about a husband and a wife's duties (to each other but also to the community--the tension between a husband's love and devotion to a wife and his care for his usefulness to the public good). Whereas Yvain flips the script on this and shows the tendency and harm caused by a man's love of public honor and his devotion to the common good at the expense of personal devotion to a wife.
Chretien weaves in several mysterious passages that suggest, but do not explicitly state, their meaning. I’m thinking primarily of passages like the grail and bleeding lance passage in Perceval, or the "Joy of the Court" episode in Eric and Enide; all five of the romances are full of such episodes, however. It bears mentioning that none of the romances are simple allegories that can be worked out on a notecard, but instead Chretien uses symbolism that begs to be understood within the terms spelled out in the story. Chretien even inserts himself (usually at the beginning and ending of the tale) and hints at this, almost winking at you and saying, "the answer is right in front of you, you just need to look carefully."
"Arthur, the good King of Britain, whose valour teaches us to be brave and courteous, held a rich and royal court upon that precious feast-day which is always known by the name of Pentecost. The court was at Carlisle in Wales. When the meal was finished, the knights betook themselves whither they were summoned by the ladies, damsels, and maidens. Some told stories; others spoke of love, of the trials and sorrows, as well as of the great blessings, which often fall to the members of its order, which was rich and flourishing in those days of old. But now its followers are few, having deserted it almost to a man, so that love is much abased. For lovers used to deserve to be considered courteous, brave, generous, and honourable. But now love is reduced to empty pleasantries, for those who know nothing about it assert that they love, and in that they lie. Thus they utter a mockery and lie by boasting where they have no right. But let us leave those who are still alive, to speak of those of former time. For, I take it, a courteous man, though dead, is worth more than a living knave. So it is my pleasure to relate a matter quite worthy of heed concerning the King whose fame was such that men still speak of him far and near; and I agree with the opinion of the Bretons that his name will live on for evermore. And in connection with him we call to mind those goodly chosen knights who spent themselves for honour's sake." (295)
Each romance is similar--including tournaments, damsels in distress, towns or castles in need of saving, challenges from evil men, attacks on honor, superlatives (each knight/main character is always the bravest and best in the world)--yet each has its distinct themes and form. For example, Erec and Enide seems to be more about marriage, and about a husband and a wife's duties (to each other but also to the community--the tension between a husband's love and devotion to a wife and his care for his usefulness to the public good). Whereas Yvain flips the script on this and shows the tendency and harm caused by a man's love of public honor and his devotion to the common good at the expense of personal devotion to a wife.
Chretien weaves in several mysterious passages that suggest, but do not explicitly state, their meaning. I’m thinking primarily of passages like the grail and bleeding lance passage in Perceval, or the "Joy of the Court" episode in Eric and Enide; all five of the romances are full of such episodes, however. It bears mentioning that none of the romances are simple allegories that can be worked out on a notecard, but instead Chretien uses symbolism that begs to be understood within the terms spelled out in the story. Chretien even inserts himself (usually at the beginning and ending of the tale) and hints at this, almost winking at you and saying, "the answer is right in front of you, you just need to look carefully."
"Arthur, the good King of Britain, whose valour teaches us to be brave and courteous, held a rich and royal court upon that precious feast-day which is always known by the name of Pentecost. The court was at Carlisle in Wales. When the meal was finished, the knights betook themselves whither they were summoned by the ladies, damsels, and maidens. Some told stories; others spoke of love, of the trials and sorrows, as well as of the great blessings, which often fall to the members of its order, which was rich and flourishing in those days of old. But now its followers are few, having deserted it almost to a man, so that love is much abased. For lovers used to deserve to be considered courteous, brave, generous, and honourable. But now love is reduced to empty pleasantries, for those who know nothing about it assert that they love, and in that they lie. Thus they utter a mockery and lie by boasting where they have no right. But let us leave those who are still alive, to speak of those of former time. For, I take it, a courteous man, though dead, is worth more than a living knave. So it is my pleasure to relate a matter quite worthy of heed concerning the King whose fame was such that men still speak of him far and near; and I agree with the opinion of the Bretons that his name will live on for evermore. And in connection with him we call to mind those goodly chosen knights who spent themselves for honour's sake." (295)
February 11, 2014
How can you possibly review a collection of stories which are more than 800 years old and which were a huge influence on Arthurian legend as a whole?
You can't. I think ratings and reviews should compare books to others within the same general area. There would be no point comparing an ancient Greek play, a biography, a YA vampire novel, an academic study and so on to each other because they aren't comparable. I've decided to give Four Arthurian Romances a rating of four stars on this basis. Held up to a modern novel, the stories ramble, the characters are entirely unbelievable, the level of detail -and, indeed, many of the details themselves- are beyond excessive, the... But none of this is the point. Britain is a country rich in legend, some of the most popular of which is Arthurian and we owe substantial parts of this to de Troyes. Probably one of the most well know stories is that of the Arthur-Lancelot-Guenevere love triangle and this is based largely on his Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart which is the last story in this collection. This is where the pleasure in reading this book lies. It is absolutely fascinating to read such early and significant versions of these legends.
I started reading this book in old French but after so many near brain explosions I admit to being a bit cheeky and switching to a Project Gutenburg version in English! My version had extensive endnotes which, while being a bit of a pain on an e-reader, hugely improved my understanding and stopped me from getting too lost. Take Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, for example - do you know why riding in a cart was so shameful a man would gladly die rather than be subjected to it? Nah, I didn't either. I can't imagine how confused I'd've been without the endnotes so I would definitely recommend getting a version with them included.
You can't. I think ratings and reviews should compare books to others within the same general area. There would be no point comparing an ancient Greek play, a biography, a YA vampire novel, an academic study and so on to each other because they aren't comparable. I've decided to give Four Arthurian Romances a rating of four stars on this basis. Held up to a modern novel, the stories ramble, the characters are entirely unbelievable, the level of detail -and, indeed, many of the details themselves- are beyond excessive, the... But none of this is the point. Britain is a country rich in legend, some of the most popular of which is Arthurian and we owe substantial parts of this to de Troyes. Probably one of the most well know stories is that of the Arthur-Lancelot-Guenevere love triangle and this is based largely on his Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart which is the last story in this collection. This is where the pleasure in reading this book lies. It is absolutely fascinating to read such early and significant versions of these legends.
I started reading this book in old French but after so many near brain explosions I admit to being a bit cheeky and switching to a Project Gutenburg version in English! My version had extensive endnotes which, while being a bit of a pain on an e-reader, hugely improved my understanding and stopped me from getting too lost. Take Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, for example - do you know why riding in a cart was so shameful a man would gladly die rather than be subjected to it? Nah, I didn't either. I can't imagine how confused I'd've been without the endnotes so I would definitely recommend getting a version with them included.
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